Electric hypercars from Rimac, Lotus and Pininfarina now out-accelerate everything with an engine. What they offer, what they lack and why the combustion hypercar is not going away.
In short
- Electric hypercars deliver 1,900-plus horsepower and 0 to 100 km/h in under two seconds. Nothing with an engine is quicker off the line.
- They lack sound, weigh over two tonnes and depend on charging that is still patchy for cross-country drives.
- Collectors are paying more for the last naturally aspirated V12s than for the fastest EVs. Emotion sets the price, not the stopwatch.
The new numbers
The Rimac Nevera set the standard: four motors, 1,914 horsepower, 0 to 100 km/h in about 1.8 seconds, a top speed above 400 km/h and a price near 2.4 million dollars. The Pininfarina Battista uses the same platform under Italian bodywork. Lotus’s Evija promises 2,000 horsepower. Every one of these cars is faster in a straight line than any combustion hypercar ever built.
What they offer
Acceleration that rearranges your sense of what a car can do. Torque vectoring across four motors that makes a two-tonne car feel agile. Silence at speed, which is either eerie or wonderful depending on the driver. Software that lets the same car be a limousine on Monday and a track weapon on Sunday.
What they lack
Sound, which is most of the theatre. Lightness: batteries weigh what they weigh, and 2,100 kg is heavy on a mountain road. Range at pace: drive an electric hypercar hard and the battery empties in twenty minutes. Charging on the road remains a plan rather than a certainty in most of the places people drive hypercars. And, for now, the emotional pull that makes someone pay four million dollars for a Bugatti.
What collectors are doing
The auction results are clear: the last naturally aspirated V12s (Ferrari 812 Competizione, Lamborghini Aventador Ultimae, Gordon Murray T.50), the analogue specials (Porsche 911 S/T, GT3 with a manual gearbox) and the great combustion hypercars (Bugatti Chiron Super Sport, Pagani Huayra, Koenigsegg Regera) are appreciating. Electric hypercars are respected, admired and, so far, not collected in the same way.
The likely future
Hybrid is the compromise the manufacturers have chosen: the Ferrari F80, the Bugatti Tourbillon, the McLaren W1 all pair electric torque with a combustion engine and its sound. Pure electric hypercars will keep setting records. The cars people fall in love with will keep making noise, at least for a while.
Questions people ask
What is the fastest electric hypercar?
The Rimac Nevera R holds most acceleration records, with 0 to 100 km/h in about 1.7 seconds and a top speed above 400 km/h.
Are electric hypercars good investments?
So far, combustion and hybrid hypercars have appreciated more reliably. Electric hypercars are technically superior but less sought after by collectors.
How much does an electric hypercar cost?
From about 2 million dollars for a Rimac Nevera or a Pininfarina Battista to 2.5 million and more for special editions.
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